Thread: Clutch not disengaging fully

Started randomly on the way home today I had to use a lot of force to get it into gear. Started with just 1st but now all the gears are giving me a hard time I have to really jam it into gear. The pedal feels like there is a dead spot. My release bearing has been making noise for a couple weeks now.

I replaced the engine about a month ago and I did NOT use an alignment tool for the clutch since I reused my old clutch disc. I dont know if this caused the problem or not.

I checked the system and did not see any fluid leaks, I bled the shit out of the system and replaced all the fluid still the same problem. The slave cylinder is pushing on the lever when I depress the pedal like it should.

Everything shifts fine without the engine running but once I start the engine its hell to get it into 1st gear. My whole drive train shakes when I jam it in reverse and it will roll back slowly even with the pedal fully depressed. I believe the release bearing or pressure plate springs are the fault and the clutch needs replacing.

What do you guys think? And do you think it would be safe to drive to work and back for a week or so? I dont think Ill have time to drop the trans this week

Did you use gl5 gear oil by mistake?
Or even use motor oil like in older hondas

no i used valvoline 75w90 i think..it was the only fluid for limited slip at autozone

You have to make sure its a gl-4 oil instead of gl-5. Gl-5 will wear your synchros very quickly.
Sounds like theyre well on their way out from the sound of it

i dont know if it was gl4 or 5 but i dont think it is the syncros because it has always shifted fine until a few hours ago. it was fine then all of a sudden in the span of 10-15 minutes wouldnt shift without extreme force. do you think the fluid would cause this? it drove problem free for over a month

update
was fine this morning, 1st gear gave me a problem once or twice but everything else was fine. also, no more noise from the release bearing. very strange last night it wouldnt shift at all

I'm having this same issue. I changed the slave and master cylinders as well as the lines to stainless steel ones (b/c I had them lying around), but it still doesn't feel right.

the problem seems to come and go. it is worse at times sometimes i dont have any problem. really strange. its drivable but ill keep you guys updated when i figure it out

Try dot 5 after flush

did you have the same problem?

Drove my car yesterday it was initially shifting good...opened it up a few times on the way home and it was getting locked out of gears. Thirty miles away from home and a funky gearbox was not cool. It made it home and is now parked up, time to drop that gearbox. My clutch is definitely not disengaging. When clutching-in, the car still feels like the clutch is grabbing. When I'm at a stop, if I try to put it in gear the car wants to move forward even if the clutch is to the floor.

Originally Posted by smokindon

did you have the same problem?

I ,urrently have the same problem initially in the summer my clutch fluid messed up the master car didnt shift probably. I drove a whole summer like that and that ruined my synchros opened up my box and checked the brass rings. 1-2 & 3-4 the most used ones were forced into to gear to many times through course of the summer. 5-6 worked fine gears spin much less when synching. The inside of the brass rings were smooth no more thread noone here had spare qr trannys affordable enuff for me. I just ride it like yhat and double clutch when I need

It's sounds like a throw out bearing, or the Pressure plate.

If it does shift ok when it's not running that's because the engine is not rotating so there is nothing for it to fight against. I really think fluid has nothing to do with it unless you hear a lot of clunking or grinding.

Bad fluid in ur master will wear down ur seals. blowing by minute amounts of brake fluid. When ur engine bay is hot the viscosity of the fluid changes. Which is why itll do it less when cold. Try cold starting and shifting with ur engine running and car completely stopped. Then ride around and stop try it again.

When its cold anywhere in the minus (Celsius) its a pain in the ass to shift in to gear. I have to blip the throttle to get it in 2nd gear from first on a take off. But when it warms up its a beaut and no problems at all. I haven't changed my tranny fluid since I got the car. Which was 25km ago. The car has 180km on it now. When should I replace the fluid?

Thanks Cam

ash did you find the problem? my car does the same exact thing, hell i even had to start the thing in neutral for the last week that i drove it.

I parked that bitch up, gonna dig in when the weather gets a little warmer.

ok, ill let you know what i find next week hopefully.

i changed the fluid a while ago but i didnt notice any difference ive been driving it with no real problems. reverse takes some effort to get into lol other than that its fine i wouldnt stress about it too much unless youre ready to drop the trans

Its def. somehting to stress about when you cant get into 1st or reverse. did you change your master and slave cyl? thats sounds more like what your problem is.